Metal Mouth Message Board

hi,

I am on tray 18/22. I have 2 months to go till I finish my treatment. I have never had any problems with invisalign but I am not happy with the progress. I feel that there is still so much to do. Are the last 4 trays going to make my teeth look really beautiful ? I am starting to worry a bit as my treatment is coming to an end and even though my teeth changed extremely lot I am not happy with the way they look. I look at my last tray and see absolutely straight teeth but surely now on tray 18/22 they should look almost perfect ??

Hi there,
Don't panic. Firstly changes can happen in four aligners, but if not then you will probably need refinements. Most Invisalign patients need refinements so it is likely that you will. On occasion there are more aligners in the refinements than in the original case! I am currently on upper refinements and I have 9 sets. It's no big deal, just means that I have to wear Invisalign a little longer.
Do you know whether refinements were included in your contract?

thank you for your answer. yes, retainers are included in my contract. I do not mind having to wear them after I finished all my sets. I just want to have perfectly straight teeth like I imagined I would have had by now.
What is actually the difference between the aligners and retainers ?

You may need refinements - which are additional Invisalign trays generally included in the cost. In my case, my uppers were not fully corrected with the last tray and my lowers weren't progressing correctly with a number of trays to go. For my case, my orthodontist did a "mid-course correction" where I had 8 additional upper trays and 17 lowers.

After finishing the 8 extra upper trays, my upper arch is perfect. My teeth look better than they did after having traditional braces for my last treatment, in part because my orthodontist did some additional intrusion to make them look more even. Invisalign can produce results every bit as good as other methods.

If you are concerned about final appearance, talk to your orthodontist at your next appoint and see what options there are to do any final correction.

I think a lot can happen in four aligners. The difference between aligners 8 and 10 in my case are quite noticeable so if it can change that much in 2 sets, I'm sure 4 will get you there. If you are happy with the way the final aligners look and your teeth have been moving as expected throughout, hopefully they will be the beautiful straight teeth you have been working towards.

If not, as people suggest you may need refinements, which means longer in invisalign but will result in the teeth you want. Good luck!

I had a similar experience.

Everything was going smoothly up until the last few trays, when I realized that even though my teeth were very much improved they were not going to be as hollywood-straight as the clincheck suggested. My ortho said the same thing, and that I could get braces or refinements for free if I was not satisfied after the initial 25 trays.

Even though my two troublesome teeth hadn't rotated as much as they were supposed to, my smile actually looked pretty straight and great! But since I've paid a lot for this, I thought I'd might as well take advantage of the free refinements and go for perfection. So I've ended up with 12 refinements! But time flies in invisalign, it doesn't bother me at all. For the first time in my life I am smiling broadly and with confidence, trays in or out doesn't matter

Hello,

just wanted to update my treatment. I had an appointment a week ago and as I only had 1 more set to go and still wasnt very happy with the result the ortho said I will need refinements which I am very happy to have if they make my teeth look perfect! The ortho said I might need about 6-10 more sets but I really don't mind I just want this smile to be perfect!! I am pretty happy but there could still be some more work done and the ortho agreed. So my refinements will arrive in about 2 weeks. I am on my last tray and ortho said only to wear them at night time as he has done new impressions. Can't wait for the refinements now!!